Mayor Eric Adams' aide Sheena Wright, who ran city's daily operations, resigns
Mayor Eric Adams is flanked by First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, left, during a news conference at City Hall in Manhattan in December. Credit: AP / Peter K. Afriyie
Yet another mayoral aide touched by the mushrooming investigations into Eric Adams and his circle is leaving the job: the first deputy mayor, Sheena Wright, who managed the city's day-to-day operations.
Wright's resignation was announced Tuesday by Adams, who has been shedding staff since he was indicted late last month on corruption charges. Wright is being replaced by Maria Torres-Springer, who had been a deputy mayor in charge of economic and workforce development. She was commissioner of the city's agencies for small business services and housing in the de Blasio administration.
"She’s a great New Yorker, and I thank her and I wish her well in her future endeavors," Adams said of Wright, adding: "Sheena, job well done, you make us all proud."
Torres-Springer, who was at the news conference, said: "This is a very complex time in our city." She vowed "to stand shoulder to shoulder with the 300,000 public servants" who work for the New York City government.
Wright came to her post after a career as a lawyer and nonprofit executive. Last month, the FBI raided the uptown home she shares with her husband, Schools Chancellor David Banks, who is reportedly being investigated in an unrelated case by the federal government after authorities seized his and her electronic devices.
Since Adams was indicted, Gov. Kathy Hochul has not exercised her power to remove him from office but has reportedly demanded that he purge City Hall of subordinates who are being eyed by the feds. Last week, she called the first of the departures "a good first step."
Monday brought the resignations of Phil Banks, the deputy mayor for public safety, and Winnie Greco, an Asian affairs adviser, and the firing of Rana Abbasova, a protocol official in the international affairs office, who is reportedly cooperating with federal authorities against Adams in his corruption case.
Another who quit Monday was an aide, Mohamed Bahi, who was arrested Tuesday and charged with witness tampering and destruction of evidence in the Adams investigation.
Last week, senior adviser Tim Pearson resigned, and Adams hastened the planned retirement of David Banks, who is the brother of Phil Banks.
Adams has pleaded not guilty, vowed to fight the charges and refused demands to resign. The indictment accuses him of trading favorable treatment of Turkish interests for illegal campaign donations and luxury travel.
On Tuesday, Adams said that the resignations have nothing to do with the corruption investigations. He suggested that Wright left government, in part, because of an encounter with a news photographer late last week in which she pushed away a camera lens.
"Men and women leave government normally. And then they also leave government when they feel as though people are not treating them with the respect that they deserve," he said. "Like I saw how Sheena was treated when she was on, on her street. Government is hard and the goal is to do the work and I must make sure that I buffer my team from the inability to do the work."
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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